cazz

Hi Thanks everyone for replying. They have tried bw but hdnt heard anything. They left and forgot to give us their phone number so cannot let them no where he is but we did tell them to come on here so hopefully they have found him on the cov canal. again thanks we new someone would spot him. Thanks cazz

Hi Can you help we met a couple today looking for their son who is cruisung the oxford canal. He is on a fibre glass boat called pickled egg and it is burgandy and white. left from tamworth four weeks ago and heading for oxford. If you see this boat can you ask the young man to phone home urgently. they have been walking the canal as much as they can to find him with no luck. Thanks Cazz

hi bazza they stock gripfill now at b&q....£2.08 per tube. Cazz

Hi We use cillit bang works a treat and makes paintwork look great afterwards Cazz

Hi I agree with ernie we had one fitted this year and wouldnt b without it our dog who loves to sit outside can now all weathers and our engine is dry, as ours, when it rains would get soaked as we have a wet bilge ( i think thats wot its called). We dont find it a problem to lower when we cruise and wouldnt dream of cruising with it up anyway. We sit out on our deck alot rain or sun which i much prefer than sittin on the towpath as many places there is not enough room as the towpaths are quite narrow. Cazz

Hi pete If your goin full throttle it would be when you see the white of their eyes

Hi You usually have to heat the fat to bout 70degrees a hot water cylinder used for domestic hot water is best with a small immersion heater set to 70degrees,the cylinder needs a tap fittng at top to draw off waste,taking ino account the electric used on heating it u can produce for 15p a litre and its suppose to be as good as pump diesel

Hi Phil We have had our boat overplated sides and bottom upto water level this was done at Christmas and we were also able to live on the boat while the work was being done. Very messy and dirty but we have had a great job done at Brinklow Boat yard. Alot of people on here knock overplated boats but we are happy with our boat and didnt intend on getting another as we have this one as we want it inside and would have to spend alot more money on doing another boat. We would recommend Brinklow Boat yard to anyone for any work to be done on there boat if you do a search for them they do have a website. Hope this helps Cazz

If it was to show up anything it would show up the amount of boats that are dumped all over the system belonging to people who own them and dump them everywhere for months on end while they are not using them. We live on our boat and move around and see more of these boats than anything else. What you would call these people i dont no but certainly not ccers, for which we get the blame everytime. Cazz

Hi Everyone Just a quickie i hope. I am looking to repaint my boat this coming summer. I started it last summer but due to continual rain had to leave it for this year. My problem is that the roof has a gritty non slip finish and patches of green have taken a hold in areas.It is a old boat all metal. Last year i scrubbed it all with bio friendly soap and a wire brush and gave it a good coat of undercoat. Unfortunatly i have got the patches of green grey showing thro the undercoat again. I have been told that it will be difficult to remove the paint and grit so wondered if there is anything bio friendly that i can use to get rid of it... without it running off and killing plant life in canal. I would be very gratefull for any help on this subject. Thanks Cazz

Hi I find a dog makes me feel safe at nite as sometimes im on my own. I have a rottie who barks if he hears anyone outside at nite and his bark is enough to scare anyone away and there is no way anyone can get on my boat with him around. He is trained but not as a guard dog he does it as it is in his nature to guard. It was my car that was vandalised at Brinklow, they turned it on its roof. Caz

Hi We hav a vodaphone data card wich we plug into the bac of our laptop and hav not had any problem with signal in Rugby or anywhere in the area. Hav always been able to get onto internet, most of the time its on 2g network. Cazz

Hi Charles Why is it that it always comes down to ccers or bridge hoppers which ever you want to call them. Im a ccer i pay my licence fee and move around the system but i have noticed that alot of the boats that are moored up on visitor moorings or anywhere else are people that have bought boats for pleasure and when not using them seem to leave them anywhere they can and just pop back now and them to check they are ok. I have been moored up for aweek now and another boat came the day after all we have done is have to keep pulling it in as it is forever over the canal because the ground is so soft after all the rain and its licence has run out back in january. I have seen olot of these boats just left with no one on them because these people dont want to pay mooring fees or put there boat in a marina because they have to pay for that to, so dont keep blaming the ccers all the time its not always them its mostly those who buy boats for pleasure. I enjoy my life and couldnt care less what others do or dont do and i pay my way and so do all the other ccers we have met on our travels Cazz

Hi We use a vodopahone data card which cost us £50.00 for the data card and £25.00 plus vat a month for the net 250mb there are bigger usages but this one is fine for us.. We hav found this very good and the data card comes with 2 usb leads we only use the one which is about 4inches and just plug it into the back of our laptop. Hav no problem with signal as this is not a mobile phone and hav found this is not much different to what we had at our house when we were on broadband. we can use our laptop anywhere on the boat with no problem. Hope this helps you. Cazz

Hi How is the weather where you are. Got upto snow this morning was great. Out at 4.30a.m with dog playing snowballs. Cazz

Hi Has anybody got the vodaphone usb modem and if so is it any good. I understand you dont need a mobile phone to use this and it is very quick. Cazz

Hi everyone I am having some problems with tv reception . I have bought a omni directional ariel and booster but it doesnt seem any better than the old broken aerial that i had originally. Can anyone advise on what kind of normal tv aerial that can be mounted on a pole that i can try. I am at present moored up at newbold in rugby if anyone has any info i would be gratefull. Cazz.

Hi Has anybody had any trouble at Brinklow picnic area with vandals. On sunday my partner went to the car park and found my car turned on its roof and in the bushes. We were hoping to moor here for the winter as we had been told by bw we could, but we have now moved on as we carnt put up with anymore trouble there. The bin has been set on fire. Picnic table broken and against tree. grass area has been churned up by motobikes. Broken bottles and beer cans there most mornings in carpark. log fence around carpark has been sawn up and thrown in the canal. All this has been done in 2 weeks of being there. Police were not aware there was a problem there nor were bw These vandals hav spoilt what was a lovely area and this goes on most nites there. Fustrated that we couldnt do anything about it as we didnt see them at my car and upset that we have had to move from there. Cazz

Hi Wot i am saying is i dont understand wot the problem everyone has not the issue, it seems they have that problem, im a ccer and have been moving down slowly from shardlow down to warwickshire and have not over stayed anywhere. I have not even stopped on visitors moorings much as most of the time they are to noisey for me. Cazz

Hi Thanks for all your answers to my question at the beginning. I Am now a ccer and am enjoying it very much i agree with Carrie and would miss seeing all the other boats on the canals no matter wot state they are in it seems part of the heritage of the canals as they have always been there so why should this change. I find from reading the posts on here the ones that complain are the ones in the marinas which to me is not boating as most of them seem to just stay there and moan about everything. We looked at a marina and it was so packed, but if the owner could hav got another boat in he would have it was just like living in a block of flats all on top of each other. I'm afraid that that sort of living is not for me i want to be able to look out of the window or sit on the bac of the boat and see the countryside not the inside of another boat. All these people that say they are the real boaters and live in a marina surley cannot be real boaters as most of the ones we spoke to at the marina didnt even hardly go out on there boats but would sit in the marina. i would also like to no how it is that these poeple that say that ccers take all the visitors moorings no that they are ccers anyway and not someone that has come out of there slot at a marina and have moored there, cos i carnt tell the differance cos if there are things on top of the boat ie. logs, coal, bikes and so on, surley this dosent mean that they must be ccers. I have paid for my licence and have a bsc for my boat and that entitles me to use the canals the same as anyone else, it seams so sad that people have nothing better to do but complain and not enjoy wot they have and leave others alone. Cazz

Hi janetMy advice to you Janet is to fish boat free rivers or pools . There are bigger and better quality of fish there that havnt had bits chopped off by props. also the fish will be able to see your bait in water that isnt like hot chocolate. Regards Caz

thanks for your reply bottle. i will check to see if i have a split charge relay although there isnt a power supply from alternator to starter battery only to leisure batteries. i assume that the starter was charged via the sterling mains charger now and then by the guy that i bought it off. i have fitted a ampere battery management system to help matters. cazz

Hi I have recently purchased a second hand narrowboat which i have navigated from derby to napton taking 3 12hr days. My problem is.... iknow nothing about boat electrics or even boats for that matter and it is my first. The boat was on hook up when i purchased it and batteries fully charged via a sterling charger from mains. The batteries consist of 1 Starter @95amps & 2 Leisure @110 amps each. On the third night bringing the boat back all the lights started to fade and die and the fridge went off ,pumps and everything. The boat still started in the morning with a good turn over. I am now moored where i want to be and am investigating the probs of batteries not charging. It was suggested that i fit a new alternator to the bmc 1.8 engine which i havedone and its rated at 70 amps. i have bought a petrol generator so that i can hook up and charge batteries from 240 sterling as a temp measure. I have increased the leisure batteries with 2 more 110 amp batteries. I was told that a battery mangement system would prob be needed so i have fitted one of these to. i have also made a new boxing from plastic with vents for correct air flow to tuck my batteries up in .....it is getting to that point sheeesh. I have run everything on full to discharge my batteries until frigde goes off and run my engine for 6 hours and fridge still hasnt come back on. Will i have to buy battery sensing equipment to test voltage in and voltage out etc as i have been advised to do . Perhaps it might be cheaper to get elec board to run a new main cable to my boat..... i would be very gratefull if i can get any information from anyone that might help me trickle some power into my waiting batteries so i can get a couple of cans in the fridge. ps. i wired alternator same as it came out and it was a direct replacement . Hope to hear from anyone soon......regards Caz.